This is an attempt to find namesakes for 54 Federation
ships whose official in-universe naming is indefinite or disputable - in some
cases because the name is an in-joke in real life. Example: The 24th century
Starfleet ship USS Frederickson would not be named for 20th century scenic
artist Anthony Frederickson. A famous person of the name Frederickson may be the
actual 24th century namesake.

Note that only ships are listed for which we could find
suited namesakes. See Federation Ship Names A-K,
L-Z for the complete listing of all names.

Annotation
It could
reference the literal meaning of the word "ambassador" (formally a designated
representative of a state, country, non-governmental or nonprofit organization,
multilateral organization, political party or body politic that has been
selected by the leading figure of such and credentialed with a personal
letter of credence
from the ruler,
head of state,
or organizational figurehead introducing the designated ambassador as their
designated emissary or envoy for their diplomatic
mission to those
who shall receive the ambassador) to mean that this ship would in essence be an
ambassador of sorts representing the UFP as this class was for the flagship of
the Federation in the 2340's (i.e. Enterprise-C).

Annotation This may also be a reference to the
non-canon Avenger Class starship (similar
to the Miranda Class) shown in Ships of Starfleet: Volume One book (which was apparently used by
Star Trek: The Next Generation production staff. They used one top schematic of a
Miranda or Avenger class ship from the book to design the Soyuz-class USS
Bozeman.)

USS Concorde May also be named after the HMS
Concorde (1783), a
sailing frigate of the Royal Navy.

SS Dierdre Though misspelled, the ship could be named after the LÉ
Deirdre (P20), a
ship in the Irish Naval Service.

USS
Donovan Could be named after the HMS
Donovan, a
minesweeper launched 1918, sold 1921; or the infantry landing ship
Empire Battleaxe
operated as HMS Donovan from 1944 to
1946.

Annotation
In real life this ship could be named after Giovanni Donovan, model maker for
"Star Trek
Generations" and "Star Trek: First Contact".

USS
Eagle May be named after HMS
Eagle, the name of
various British Royal Navy ships; USS
Eagle, the name of
various United States Navy ships.

Annotation
Besides being named after the Lunar Lander Eagle, this ship may be named after
the Eagle Transporter spacecraft from the TV show Space: 1999.

DEV
Eagle Valley Could be named after many cities
or towns in the United States or Canada.

Annotation
It is possible that some member of the production staff of Star Trek may have
lived in one of these cities at some point in their life.

Annotation
These places or people could be an in-universe explanation instead of VFX
supervisor Judy Elkins.

ITA
Elmira Could be named for one of the many
cities or towns in Canada or the United States.

Annotation
It is possible that some member of the production staff of Star Trek may have
lived in one of these cities at some point in their life.

USS
Entente Could also be named after the Anglo-Russian
Entente, 1907
between the United Kingdom and Russia.

Annotation
Since the USS Entente was to possibly be a Federation-class dreadnought from the
non-canon book Star Fleet Technical Manual, it would make sense to name this
most powerful ship after the powerful allies of World War I (They were
informally referenced as The Entente, The
Triple Entente, The Entente Powers, and The
Entente Forces).

USS Excalibur Most
likely named after the
HMS Excalibur,
a ship in the Royal Navy, if not for the famous sword itself.

Annotation
This could be the case besides naming the largest starship built by the UFP
after the literal definition of the word Galaxy (to denote the size and possibly
role of this type of starship - akin to Nebula class and Nova class).

USS
Gallico May be named after either Elisha Gallico
(died 1583), Palestinian Jewish Talmudist;
or Paul Gallico
(1897-1976), American novelist.

USS
Horizon May be named after the Horizon-class frigate, a
multi-national collaboration to produce a new generation of anti-air warfare
frigates; or the New Horizons,
the first spacecraft expected to flyby and study the dwarf planet Pluto and its
moons.

SS
Kobayashi Maru Could be named after (or had
its port in orbit above) Kobayashi, Miyazaki,
city in Japan.

USS
Lantree See below

Annotation
Could be named, in real life, after John and Honey Lantree, group members of the British
beat/pop group The Honeycombs. What significance that has to the production
staff of Star Trek The Next Generation, who knows.

USS
Liberator Could be named after the American freighter SS Liberator that sunk March 19th, 1942 due to a Nazi submarine
torpedo strike in World War II; or the (SS) Liberator a United States Navy Cargo
Ship (later transport).

Annotation
When researching this name I found out the SS Liberator sunk off Cape Hatteras.
This could somehow explain the naming of the SS Hatteras by the Star Trek
production staff. Then again it could be a coincidence.

USS
Malone Could be named after Edmond Malone,
Irish Shakespearean scholar and editor of the works of William Shakespeare.

SS
Merchantman Could be named after the ST Merchantman,
a tug in service with United Towing Co Ltd from 1946 to 1962.

Annotation
It is not very probable that this ship was the source of the name. It is most
likely taken from the term Merchantman: any non-naval vessel, including tankers,
freighters,
or cargo
ships, but not troopships.

USS
Merced Could also be named after Merced, Nelson,
Latino politician and activist.

USS
Nash Could be named for one of the many cities
in the United States or the United Kingdom. Or for the mathematician and Nobel
laureate John
Forbes Nash.

USS
Nebula Most likely named after the word Nebula
to denote the size and possibly role of this type of starship (akin to Galaxy
and Nova class).

USS
Nova Most likely named after the word Nova to
denote the size and possibly role of this type of starship (akin to Galaxy and
Nebula class).

USS
Peterson Could be named after the USS Peterson,
two US Navy ships of that name.

(U)SS
Raven Could be named after the HMS
Raven, the name of
14 ships and a shore establishment of the British Royal Navy; or the USS
Raven, the name of
several United States Navy ships. (Although I doubt the Federation would name a
science vessel after a historical military vessel.)

USS
Reliant Could be named after the destroyer HMS
Reliant, in service during World War II.

USS
Renegade Could be named after the 19th
century ship HMS Renegade.

USS
Republic Could be named after the SS
Republic of 1853,
a ship lost in an 1865 hurricane with a large cargo of gold coins; SS
Republic of 1872,
a liner of the White Star Line; RMS
Republic of 1903,
the second White Star liner to bear the name, and the first ship ever to signal
distress by wireless telegraphy, lost after colliding with the SS Florida.

USS
Saber May be named after the HMS
Sabre, three ships
of the Royal Navy.

Annotation
The class lead ship USS Saber may have been given this name to denote that this
was more of a tactical (war) ship, although Starfleet doesn't officially acknowledge
they have ships made for war (i.e. Defiant class).

USS
Seaquest Could be named after the Sea
Quest, a
semi-submersible oil platform, or Seaquest State Park,
a state park located in the northwest US state of Washington.

USS
Seaview May be named after the city of the
same name in either New Zealand, Australia, or England.

USS
Sentinel Could be named after one of many
mountain peaks around the world, or one of many towns in the United States.

Annotation
Most likely this name came from Arthur C. Clarke's short story The
Sentinel, which was the basis for the book and film "2001: A Space
Odyssey".

USS
Shiku Maru Possibly named after the Mogau
Shiku, a group of caves in China that hold Buddhist statues and frescoes.

Annotation
In Japanese Shiku is a verb that means “to spread out, lay”.

USS
Sovereign May be named after the HMS Sovereign,
the name of more than one English warship or British Royal Navy ship; Sovereign
of the Seas, also
known as HMS Sovereign, an English
warship launched in 1637 and in service until 1696, renamed Royal
Sovereign in 1660;
USS Sovereign,
the name of more than one United States Navy ship.

Annotation
It could be possible that the word Sovereign was chosen to denote the fact that
this class of starship would control or lead areas of exploration as a sovereign
in the historical sense would control or lead authority over areas controlled by
the parent nation.

USS
Spector Possibly named after the US Navy ship
USS Spector (AM-306); or Norman
Spector, former Canadian Ambassador to Israel.

USS
Springfield – Most likely named after the USS
Springfield (SSN-761)
a Los Angeles-class nuclear attack
submarine commissioned in 1993 and currently in active service; USS
Springfield (CL-66),
was a light cruiser commissioned in 1944, and later converted to a
guided-missile cruiser serving until 1974. USS
Springfield (1862)
was a stern-wheel steamboat in use during the American Civil War; USS Springfield (ID-2575),
was a steamboat chartered during 1918 and 1919.

USS
Stargazer Possibly named after the aircraft Stargazer, which is a modified
Lockheed L-1011 airliner converted to launch
Pegasus rockets into orbit for scientific study.

Annotation
Unfortunately this aircraft didn't start operating until 1994 which meant that
the production staff of Star Trek didn't get the name from it. It is interesting
to note that a portion of Gene Roddenberry's ashes were placed aboard a Pegasus
Rocket on the Stargazer aircraft and launched into orbit in 1997. Of course, it may also
take directly from the word "stargazer" which means an astronomer and references
to the starship's star mapping missions.

USS
Strata This name may reference the word "stratosphere".

USS
Trial Possibly named for the HMS
Trial, which was
involved in the search for Prince Charles Edward Stuart after his defeat at
Culloden and was also the first posting of Adam
Duncan, Viscount Duncan of Camperdown,
who later defeated the Dutch fleet off Camperdown in 1797, considered one of the
most significant actions in naval history.

Annotation
If I remember correctly the Trial was a Miranda class starship made from an AMT
Reliant kit for some battle scene in DS9. I believe Doug Drexler mentioned on
his blog Drex Files that the name “Trial” came from rearranging the letters
of “Reliant” in the kit decals. Its registry is NCC-1948 on the model.

USS
Trinculo Possibly named after the 19th
century ship HMS Trinculo, one of the natural satellites of Uranus, or the
crater of the same name on Miranda which is also a satellite of Uranus.

USS
Valdemar Possibly named after the Royal Danish
Navy ship HDMS Valdemar Sejr, which in turn is named for Valdemar
II, the noted medieval Danish king.

USS
Valkyrie Possibly named after Project
Valkyrie, which is a theoretical spacecraft that could accelerate up to 92% the
speed of light and and decelerate afterward, carrying a small human crew to
another star system.

Annotation
Who's to say that this spacecraft didn't exist in the Star Trek universe and
actually was operational? Maybe it was a precursor to Zefram Cochrane's Phoenix
in some fashion? This ship may also be named after the VF-1 Valkyrie fighter
aircraft featured in the Macross anime series.

USS
Venture Possibly named after the HMCS Venture,
a Royal Canadian Navy training vessel; or the Sea Venture, a 17th-century
English sailing ship which was a highly unusual vessel for her day.

Annotation
The Sea Venture wrecked in Bermuda and is widely thought to have been the
inspiration for
Shakespeare'sThe
Tempest. This would be another
Shakespearean link in the Star Trek universe. It could also be named after the
SS Venture, a ship registered in Surabaya, chartered by film director
Carl Denham to travel to Skull Island in both King
Kong (1933 film)
and King
Kong (2005 film).
It also was an InGen owned ship, featured in "Jurassic Park: The Lost World", used
to transport a Tyrannosaurus from Isla Sorna to San Diego. Another reason this
ship may have received this name is for the literal meaning of the word: a major
undertaking, synonymous with adventure.

USS
Wolcott Most likely named after
Oliver Wolcott,
one of the signers of the United States Declaration of Independence.

USS
Zhukov Possibly named after Mikhail Zhukov (born 1917), a Soviet scientist in the field of aerodynamics and low temperature
plasma.

Annotation
This person would make a better candidate than the Soviet military officer.

USS
Zodiac Possibly named after the astronomical
meaning of the word Zodiac: the ring of
constellations
that lines the ecliptic,
which is the apparent path of the Sun
across the
celestial sphere
over the course of the year; the HMS Zodiac (R 54) Z class Destroyer, or Zodiac
(schooner), a
historic schooner homeported in Seattle, Washington, USA.